1:55 AM: The marker on the map is for Craig in southeastern Alaska, the reference point that authorities are using for a magnitude 7.6 earthquake that hit about an hour ago, around 60 miles west-southwest of Craig. Nearby areas of Alaska and B.C. had tsunami warnings; there was a tsunami advisory stretching as far south as the British Columbia-Washington border. See the warnings/advisories here. No word of any trouble so far. P.S. If you’re wondering how our area’s been doing with quake activity – we found this Pacific Northwest 2012 wrapup online.

2:37 AM: The tsunami advisory that had run south to the BC-Washington border is now canceled. Two months ago, there was a 7.7-magnitude quake in the Haidi Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlottes) region to the south of this quake’s location – we wrote about it here.

3:10 AM: If you needed a jolt to work on preparedness – here is a link we haven’t mentioned since that last regional quake: West Seattle Be Prepared, laden with information including your nearest “emergency-communication hub.” Know it, just in case.

14 Comments

This isn’t that far north of the Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlottes) quake a while back, and that drew widespread interest. Mostly people making sure we weren’t in danger of tsunami. And for this one, we are definitely OUTSIDE the warning/advisory zone…

We committed to 24/7 news coverage more than five years ago – including getting and publicizing a business phone number that we answer around the clock (206-293-6302) – sometimes the middle of the night is when people most need to know what’s going on! Thanks for the kind words – TR

Nothing to do with the quake whatsoever. Even in the area that was under warning, what “tsunami” was generated was barely a ripple (as is usually the case, with tragic and notable exceptions such as Japan and Sri Lanka, so we can’t ever assume). If it wasn’t windy, the most common reason for “serious waves” around here is a boat wake – after a ferry passes, for example.

“Thank you, John. Was it related, do you know, to the Haida Gwaii quake from October – same fault or … ?”

Likely yes. Many times when an earthquake happens it relieves stress at that point in the fault, but transfers stress to a nearby spot on the fault that will rupture later on. When is anyone’s guess.
There is a major fault line in Turkey that has been having major earthquakes gradually moving down the fault as the stress in one part is relieved it builds up stress at the next point down the fault line. Scientists know approximately where the next earthquake will happen, but not really when or how large.